Nature' Spirit One Shot series
by ArashiKira
Summary: A one shot series featuring the characters of Nature's Spirit and Sakura's Journey. Meant to be the events that happened between the two stories. Not in any particular order. Please enjoy!
1. His Breathing

**One-Shot #1 His Breathing**

It was just an other boring day of school, just an other simple art class. I was done my work so long ago, but we had been given four classes to do it. Since I had no work to do, I decided to draw my own things. It started off as a few random lines, now I had a weeping willow. Soon, hills joined the scenery. A few flowers blossomed here and there. I added some animals around. Maybe a squirrel, a few birds, a small goat, a bunny...Suddently, I felt a presence behind me.

An hand, tan skinned, set it's self on the table, at my right. I couldn't see through my veil of hair at my left, but I could hear gentle breathing, in a unique rythm. I felt encased in warmth, safe from the world. This is one of the things I loved the most. One of the reasons I actually wanted to go to school. It was just this massive serene feeling. He placed no judgement on my work, just stood in silence. Occasionally though, some other guy would pass by, then I'd hear him mumble out, nearly a whisper. "Hey, come check this out. She's amazing!" Those simple words made me blush, made my heart flutter. I never wanted these moments to end.

When nobody looked, he'd sometimes extend a single one of those shadowy tendrills his kind was so famous for. He'd coil it around my waist and I'd hear the gentle hum of his static against my mind. Those were the sounds I liked to hear the most right now. His breathing and his static. I did love his laughter a lot too, but it just turned my mind to jelly. That wasn't very good for drawing. I pulled out a few coloring crayons, sticking a few in my mouth as I dug in my pencil case for more. That was when I noticed that the pencils I was holding in my left hand, which was under the table, slowly slipped from my grasp, never to fall on the floor. I looked through my hair to see an other one of his tendrills, holding on to the crayons. I dared look up to see him giving me a sly smile. His face was only inches from mine.

Taking the pencils in his free hand, he retracted his tendrills quickly. Everyone would surely be staring at us for what he'd do next. He pulled back the strands of my long brown hair and gently pressed his lips to mine. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling. As suspected, all eyes were on us when we broke the kiss. I looked back down to my drawing, starting to color it. Yellow for these flowers, green for the grass, adding a few hints of blue in the willow's leaves... All the while, I listened to his breathing.

He eventually got up and left, back to his side of the table to work on his own project. Even if he was still sitting at the same table as I was, I already missed that sound. The sound of his breathing. My smile fadded but my eyes still held that dreamy gaze, I was sure of it. I jolted a bit, nearly messing up my drawing, when I felt that both warm and cool sensation of his tendrill to my skin again. I looked down to my left wrist, staring in facination at the shadowy appendage. Calming static rushed up my spine, as if to appologise for the jumpscare he had just given me. He was already charming as is, his dark powers only added to it.

The bell rang, snapping me out of my transe. I looked down at my drawing, blinking a few times. Had I really colored all of this by myself? Where did the time go? We both stood up in silence, his tendrill quickly fadding from sight. As we parted ways to head to our own classes, I felt a slight rush of static. We didn't really need to say goodbye. We had our mental link, and within the building, we were always in range of each other's mind, always capable of speaking. But, the only issue was, when we spoke telepathically, I couldn't hear the peaceful sound of his breathing. The feeling of his laughter resonated in the back of my mind as I thought this. Damn him. He wasn't supposed to read my mind like that. But I knew, and I think he knew it too, I actually liked it when he did that.

**AN: Heeeeeeey! Yep. This is my oneshot series beggining. These aren't going to be in any particular chronological order. If you're some kind of orderly freak like those Zelda Timeline Theorists, then have fun trying to fit everything together! But this little one is clearly from the time they went to school together, so in that huge ten year time lapse between the true final chapter of Nature's Spirit and the same story's epilogue. Those first two paragraphs are somewhat personal to me, because they exactly word for word convey events that actually happened. You, who read my Author's Notes, know I had a crush on a guy. I think one of the reasons why I grew so attached to him was because he made me feel like he liked me back. I MEAN SERIOUSLY! WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE DO THAT IF THEY DIDN'T LIKE THE GIRL? Well, anyway... Idk when I'll be posting more one shots. I'll just add them along. Stick around for more! Thank you :3**


	2. Secrets

**One Shot #2 Secrets**

It was fun finally getting an apartment of my own. A lot of work, some heavy dose of trouble, but fun. I had Tom to help me out too, so that was good. I gently pet Puffball, one of my cats. He was old and tired, but Tom worked miracles to keep him in good shape. The guy would make an amazing vet. I had no doubts that he'd get accepted into any program right away.

Today though, my parents were coming over for a visit. My parents were almost never in the same room together. The only times they really spoke was when I'd go from my mom's house to my dad's house and back. They didn't hate each other, just lived seperate lives. I hadn't seen them together in so long, since I had started going to college and had eventually moved out. You can understand that I was doing my best to hide any stains and put away as much junk as I could. I had to force the cabinet to fit in all the random game cases that were scattered around the little tv we had. I smiled when I came across the copy of Okami we had. Tom had bought it for me on my birthday one year, he knew I had wanted to play it for so long.

I hastily took Mika, Tom's cat, off the table and set down a bowl of food. The animals quickly rushed over to the bowl to eat the precious brown bits. I smiled at how ravenously they ate. I then opened the front door to let the cats out. We were on the ground floor, so it was an easy access outside for them. After carefully placing the last controler on the shelf, I sighed and plopped down on the couch. The springs creaked dully under my weight. I winced, hoping my parent's didn't think of me too poorly for it.

I felt that slightest static at the edge of my conciousness, the signal that we were in range for communication. _"Hey! How are you doing?" "I got food. Your parents there yet?" "No, not yet." "Ok. Well I'll be there soon." _And just as he finished that last word, I felt that distinctive drop in temperature as he slenderwalked in. It would have been strange to anyone else to see a tall faceless man in a fancy dark grey shirt with dark jean shorts, wearing a scarf and carrying bags of groceries. To me, this was my everyday life.

I stood on tip-toes and he bent down to kiss me. He took the bags with his tendrills and placed the groceries on the counter. He just held me in his arms gently, nuzzling the top of my head. What I didn't know though, was that the front door, which was parallel to the kitchen, was still open...and that my mother was arriving. Me and Tom both snapped back to reality when we heard a shrill scream. I looked up and felt my stomach drop. My mom was in the doorway, frozen in shock and as white as Tom was now. _Tom... Oh no. _He let me go and backed away.

Just as I thought things couldn't get any worst, I noticed my dad was down the path, having heard my mom's shout, he ran over and froze in place. My mother slowly began to back away and ran. I ran after her. "Mom, wait please!" _"Tom, change back. It's no point hiding anymore." _I felt the sense of fear and dissaproval from his mind, but I think he listened to me. I pushed past my dad and ran up to my mother, grabbing her hand. "Mom...please...calm down..." She looked to me with frantic eyes. She was shaking. Never had I waited so long for her to respond, to react in any way. I had never seen her scared like this before.

Her eyes still locked with mine, she slowed her breathing, bringing the hand I wasn't holding up to her chest. Suddently, her look of terror shifted to one of anger. "WHAT IS GOING ON? WHAT DID I SEE?" I flinched at her tone of voice. She was mad at me... I looked down to my feet, then around me. We were out in front of the house. I didn't want to attract a crowd. "Mom...please come inside." Her eyes flashed with fear for a bit. "You want me to go back in there?! With that...that thing?" "He's not a thing!" Her eyes fell on me again, she seemed to be thinking. Then, in a neutral and dull tone, she merely said. "That's your boyfriend, isn't it. What is he?" I started walking back inside, still holding on to her wrist.

As I walked into the apartment, I noticed that my dad was still horribly pale, caught in some kind of starring contest with Tom who had returned to human form. He was stiff, almost looking affraid to move. When his sky blue eyes fell on me, I felt a single message reach my mind. _"Help me..." _I snapped both of my parents back to reality as I spoke. "Mom...Dad... I'm sorry, but we've been keeping secrets from you. I rubbed my arm nervously. They both looked from me to him. They clearly didn't know what was going on.

I was surprised they didn't ask if it was just a prank, some guy in a costume, but they were smart enough to know that some guy in a costume couldn't simply stand at over 8 feet tall like that. We all sat at the table, forgetting about talking about my studies. Forgetting about food. Forgetting about everything that was planned. Part of me felt relieved. It was time to tell them this part of my life I had been hiding so long. Both parents sat at the other side of the table, Tom was at my left. He fidgeted nervously. _"You can do it you know. Not much left to hide anyway."_ I then saw both of my parents flinch when a shadowy tendrill extended from Tom's back to curl around my wrist, which was on the table. They didn't dare speak, and I didn't know where to start. "So..." "I'm a slender." I looked to my side in surprise when Tom finished my sentence for me. He spoke it in one short breath. His voice held no emotion as he said it, and he just looked up at my parents with his eerie sky eyes. If I couldn't feel his mind against mine, I would never have known how terrified he was right now.

He took a shaky breath, finally letting his shoulders droop. I noticed that he had also extended his three other tendrills, coiling them around his midsection, but from the angle at which he sat, my parents couldn't see this. He continued to speak, now looking down at the table and his tendrill curling tightly around my arm. "I...I'm not human. I have tentacles, I can teleport, I can sense people's emotions...and I can change into...what you saw earlier." He looked away. My mom was still shaking. "If I hadn't seen you back there, or what you're doing now, I wouldn't believe you. I'm still not sure if I do." My dad was still staring, as if searching for the right words to say. "Hey...wait a minute. Weren't there horror games made after your kind or something? You some flesh eating monster?" His eyes narrowed. Reflexivly, Tom's back straightened out and his tendrills coiled backwards, wavering slightly in the air. "We're not what the internet thinks of us!" He then blinked a few times, realizing what he just did. He slouched back down, lowering his tendrills and wrapping one around my arm again. "...sorry."

My parents were in mute shock. I tried to change the subject a bit, talking about my grades. It worked to some extent. I got my parents to smile a few times. The air was heavy and tense though, all from my boyfriend's aura. _"Dude, you're sending your mood for like a mile around." _He smiled to me sheepishly, the tendrill on my arm curling a bit more around it. _"Sorry. I'm j_ust..._stressed. What if they hate me? What if they get you away from me?" _I smiled up to him and gently traced my fingers over the tendrill. _"They can't ever keep us appart." _I suppose my parents noticed our unusual sudden silence, or our expressions. My dad blinked and looked at us sceptically. "Are you two like...speaking? Like...in a way only you two can hear." I looked back up to him. He was more observant than he looked. "I...yes. Yes we are." My parents still looked cautious, but they were starting to calm down.

Finally, they seemed to get over it. Still eyeing his tendrills suspiciously though. We gave them a tour of the house. Which wasn't much really...A kitchen, a living room with a table, a bathroom and one little bedroom with a ridiculously tiny bed for a couple. My mom cast an other glance at Tom, her eyes lingering on his tendrill. "You sleep in the same bed..." She said it like an accusation. Well I was 23 years old! I do believe I was allowed to do so. She then noticed one of the paintings that were on the wall. It was the one I had made for Tom on Christmas years ago. She looked from the painting to him, and to the painting again. It showed him in slender form. My dad had noticed too. "The guy can really just...change to be that way?" He seemed stunned, talking more to himself than to me. I looked back to Tom and to my parents again. From the way the tendrill tightened around my arm, I could tell he had picked up on my train of thoughts.

Letting go of my arm with his tendrill, which now fell limply at his side, he made a small noice in his throat. He looked over both of my parents intently before raising a single hand, slowly letting the colors drain from his skin until it was pure white. My parents both looked shocked. He then closed his eyes and I watched him grow in height, I watched his hair melt away, I watched his other tendrills extend. Hid bare head now touched the ceiling and he had to actually tilt his head forward a bit to fit in the room. My parents looked at him in shock. Part of me questioned why he had left his tendrills out, they only made him seem even more unreal and terrifying. But then I thought that maybe if they saw all he was capable of now, they wouldn't feel as scared in the future.

There was a good three minutes of silence before anyone spoke, before anyone moved. For long the only sound in the room was the sound of our collective harsh breathing. Then slowly, very slowly, my dad took a step forward. He looked up to the man that was still two feet taller than him. "Dang you're tall." Tom smirked and laughed a bit. It was a pretty silly thing to say after all this tension. To avoid anymore discomfort, he shifted back to his human image quickly. The mood kind of settled and there was no longer so much tension, but it was still there.

As I went to the door to say goodbye to my parents, my mom turned to me. She had worry in her eyes. I hadn't seen her really worry about anything in years. "Please be carefull." I smiled to her, a somewhat sad smile. "I will be. And don't worry about a thing, He'll protect me." She returned my sad smile and left.

I turned back to Tom who was rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "They're gone. Heh...at least we got that detail out of the way." I smiled and walked over to him, kissing him. This time, there were no frantic screams and I threw my arms around his neck. Static filled me at that moment. I felt his teeth growing sharp and his height changed. When I opened my eyes again, I was met with his blank face I had grown so close to. I rested my head on his slightly cooler than average chest and sighed. "At least we can relax now."

**AN: Wow this is a long one-shot...ya...wow...long. So yeah. This moment was refferenced in Sakura's Journey, but it never went into great detail. So if the parents are all anxious in Sakura's Journey when they see Tom coil a tendrill around Sarah's wrist, it's cuz it reminds them of when they found out he was a slender. And yeah...I didn't expect to write something this long XD**


	3. One Night

**One-Shot #3 One Night**

I had invited Sarah to one of our usual sleep-overs. It had been a pretty long time since we had had one. You can tell I was pretty excited. The doorbell rang. I raced downstairs to answer. "Sarah!" "Angie!" We hugged and went inside, going up stairs. It was a pretty fun time, we watched a movie, drew a bit, spent time on the internet, and then I read for a while as she played her new Pokemon game. She was pretty much glued to her screen, I didn't wanna bug her. She did rush to my side though, when Skype went off and it was actually her Slenderman boyfriend calling. They had some pretty long conversation about Pokemon with fairy types and all kinds of other stuff I couldn't really understand.

We went for a walk as the sun was setting, going all the way to the icecream place. It was a bit unusual to go for icecream in October up here in Canada, but hey. We were just glad the place was still open at this time of year. I laughed, almost choking on the cone when Sarah randomly decided to climb up a tree and eat her icecream _upside down._ I'm not even sure how she did it. "Don't mind me, just your average tree dweling sixteen year old!"

It was getting late so we headed home. We got changed into our pyjamas and went to bed, well...me in bed and her on the small air matress on the floor next to me. I saw her still playing her game as I fell asleep.

I woke-up later that night. It was dark, very dark. A fine line of bluish light from the moon was streaming in from the curtains. I glanced over to the clock to see it was 2:47 in the morning. The air had this strange electric feeling to it. I squinted, my mind still foggy. I almost jumped back in shock when I glanced to my side to see a figure sitting on the ground, back up against the wall. I got my heart beat under control and stared in facination.

The boy's thick curls of dark hair cast a black shadow over his eyes, hiding them from sight. He had one of those black tentacles his kind was so famous for extending from his back and slightly curled besides Sarah's head, going over her shoulder and gently set on her chest as if to protect her. He was also running his fingers through her hair. He was dressed in what I can only guess were pyjama pants. It was a bit weird for a teenage guy to still wear pyjamas, but I suppose not many people would dare insult him if they saw him like this, if only because he had no shirt on. Now I was very loyal to my own boyfriend, but he was...well...a bit of a toothpick. Now this guy...I could see why Sarah liked him. He wasn't too muscular, but his shape was well toned. I hadn't realized that my mouth was hung open. I shook my head. It was funny how he still wore his scarf, even now.

He turned to look at me, his eyes eerily pale in the darkness. He brought his right hand, a finger pressed to his lips to tell me to be quiet. His attention returned to the girl at his side. I, as quietly as I could, asked: "You do this often?" Not taking his eyes off her, and a loving smile on his face, he answered me in a barelly whispered voice that sounded almost more mental than vocal. "Not every night, but often yes. The way our minds are connected makes it difficult for either of us to find peace at such a great distance from one an other. She doesn't feel it as much as I do, her being human and all." I nodded and turned back to lie down, staring at my ceiling. "You going to be here all night?" From the corner of my eye, I saw him shrug.

The air felt so peaceful and soothing, with that weird static energy of his. I quickly fell back to sleep. When I next awoke, it was around three in the morning. I heard soft snoring. Sarah doesn't snore. I sat up and looked to my side and couldn't help but smile. The pair were laying down, facing each other. Sarah's face was nuzzled in his scarf, his head leaning on top of her's. He had a hand on her waist and his four tendrills were out. Two of them were coiled around Sarah's midsection, the other two limply on the ground behind him. The blankets were carefully tucked over them, starting below Tom's waist, and were completly free of any wrinkles. It was as if the two didn't move an inch at all in their sleep. They looked so comfortable in each other's arms, they probably didn't.

How would my parents react when they came to wake me up in the morning if they saw a random guy with black tentacles, sleeping snuggled up with my best friend, in the middle of my room?

I, as quietly as I could, got up from bed. I knew my stealth was embarassing when compared to a slender, but I didn't wake them up and that's all that counts. I carefully stepped over them, making my way to the bedroom door. I flipped the lock and went back to bed, even if I knew he'd most likely be gone when morning came.

**AN: Ya. Heeeeeeey! So Pokemon X and Y came out...AND IT IS AWESOME! I got the game, one day later, my starter is fully evolved...and MY GOD FURFROU IS A TANK. Ok, fangirling set asside, I came up with this random little oneshot the other day...Idk... I hope you guys enjoy. And yeah, I warned y'all before hand that these would not be in chronological order...so yeah...Bye! For now... Unless you want to stay, then you can stay and read it over and over again ;-;**


	4. Officially

**One-Shot #4 Officially**

To say we were cheap right now was an understatement.

Most girls want a huge fairy tale wedding, with a carriage and music and all this fancy diamond jewelry and stuff. I personally didn't care for any of that. For a long part of my life, during my childhood into about half my teens, I never even concidered marriage. I was convinced I would just die alone. I'd live through my whole life, be it short or long, without even ever kissing... But here I was now.

I glanced at myself in the mirror. Yes, I had the white dress and all, but it was far from what traditional weddings were like. I didn't even have any make-up on. My mom stood by, eyeing me nervously. She was well aware that I was to be married to a man who wasn't even human, and she did not seem too pleased. I could tell she was proud though, even if she wouldn't admit it.

I allowed myself to peek out the door. The ceremony was to take place in this tiny little chapel, at the edge of some far off town. It was in the middle of nowhere, and was actually run by slenderfolk. I had only recently found out that it was tradition for slenders to marry in their true form. It symbolized that they were united as their true selves. I saw him, at the other side of the room. The tall faceless man that was destined to me. He wore a suit that would have made him look like the real Slenderman, even a tad bit fancier. The only difference being that he still wore that old blue and grey scarf.

I moved away from the door and resumed aranging my hair. Soon, though, I was informed it was finally the time. I held my father's hand as he walk alongside me, all the way up to him. The crowd at our sides included humans, my mother and father along with my best friend and her fiancé. Dill and Fred, friends of my soon-to-be-husband, were also present. The other side included a few slenderfolk. Some were in human form, a few I didn't recognise. Relatives of Tom, I assumed. His parents were there of course, standing tall and proud. Hi slittle brother was also there, looking at me happily.

It was clear my parents were both stressed out of their minds. I then began to question why I wasn't. Why wasn't I freaking out? I was minutes away from being married...maybe even seconds. We finally got to the end of that one walk that felt far to slow. I was tempted to take matters into my own hands and run down what was left, but I decided against it.

As the tall boring man that stood in front of us babled on, I let my eyes wander around my soon-to-be-husband. He smiled faintly to me. _"Bored too?" "Like mad. I thought weddings were supposed to be exciting, supposed to give you a rush." "Yeah... I honestly don't feel that different from any other day." "Well, I guess I am worried... for my parents. They look like they're gonna be sick!" _

Rings were set on our fingers. To go back on how cheap we were, most people bought a new ring, a wedding ring. They'd just get rid of the engagement one. We didn't... We had the same rings we had since the beginning. I gazed at my amethyst carved Master Ball ring, looking over to Tom's golden Triforce ring.

Words were spoken, we kissed, people cheered, cake, yay. Such fun. I began to feel worry eating at my insides. Why wasn't I feeling that rush everyone described? Why wasn't I nearly fainting from excitement or joy? I felt cold run through my veins. What if I wasn't in love with him anymore? No. No, that was impossible. I loved him. I loved him more than the world. He sensed my confusion and walked over to me, wrapping his long arms around me, filling me with static. I rested my head on his chest, breathing in peacefully. Yes, I loved him. There were no doubts there.

As we went back to our little hotel room, I was just glad to finally get out of the uncomfortable dress, which was a rental by the way. We both laid down in bed, gazing at the ceiling. The air felt heavy and tense, but also ringing with a certain sense of joy. "So..." "We're married now." There was a certain dreamy whisper to his voice. I turned to see his sky eyes shining in the dim lighting. I turned over to press my head against his scarf. I wrapped an arm around me, and a few of his tendrills. Their cool and warm touch made me feel at home.

It was in this moment, this one moment in particular, that I realized why I didn't feel that insane rush at our wedding. Because, we just love each other so much, are more like one mind than two, that it's like we were married from the start. The ceremony made it official, but we already cared for each other more than anyone ever could. He must have read my mind at the time, I heard him chuckled and he barelly whispered. "You're right..." We remained in each other's arms like that until we drifted off to sleep...as husband and wife...

...officially.


	5. Cherry Blossoms

**One-Shot #5 Cherry Blossoms**

I was out shopping with Angie. It had been a few months since we had both had our seperate weddings and we had decided to take some time away from our now husbands just to fool around like we did when we were kids. Our first stop was the pet shop, of course. I just loved seeing all those little animals. A man was feeding chinchilas cherry wood through the small bars of the cage. When he saw me aproach, his eyes widdened right away. "You're Sarah Oakson, right?" I blinked and looked at this stranger. I had never seen him before. I only slowly nodded. The man smiled. "I know your husband. He's a miracle worker. You'd think he's not even human!" I inwardly chuckled at that last comment. _If only you knew... _

The man had let me feed the animals. I smiled when their furry little snouts brushed up against my fingertips as I fed them. I shared with Angie, who was having the time of her life by the looks of it. She was smiling brightly and talking to all the little creatures in a baby voice, which admitedly made me wince.

Next, we went for lunch. "What do you mean you only have cherry cola left?" The woman at the cash of the local mall's New York Fries merely shrugged and put on a little pout. "Sorry honey, no more anything else. There was an accident this morning." I frowned and sighed. Guess we would be ok without a drink for now. I could always go to the water fountain later.

We ate and spoke casually about everything and anything. As I took one more bite of my fry, I paused, a horrid sensation filling me. The sensation I had been feeling for the past few days... Angie frowned from where she sat, snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Sarah? Sarah! Are you ok?!" I stood up and ran, right to the nearest bathroom.

_So much for lunch. _That was my only thought as I emptied my guts over into the bowl. I sneered when I looked up at the deep cherry red wallpaper of the bathroom, which was lined here and there with pink floral prints. I wiped as much stuff off my face as I could with my sleeve and stood up shakily. Angie was behind me, looking terrified. "Sarah, are you ok?" She held on to my shoulder. I didn't react. I didn't look away from the wall, then slowly, I started to smile. A smile that turned into a somewhat insane grin followed by laughter. Angie backed away at this point, looking extremly worried. "Sarah?...do you need to go to the hospital?" I wiped tears I didn't know I had from the corners of my eyes, still giving off a slight giggle here and there.

"That's the fourth day in a row, Angie. Only one thing it can be." She froze, slowly processing things in her mind. I laughed again when her jaw dropped. God, I wasn't being myself right now. I needed to take a few deep braths. "You mean...you're...you're..." She was stuttering. I only smiled at her and walked over to the sink to wash my hands. "Yes." I may have looked calm and controled, if you ignored my psychotic grin and my occasional laughter, but on the inside, I felt so many emotions clashing with one an other. We walked out of the bathroom and on through the mall, from store to store.

I got home much later that day. Tom was already there. This tiny little dump was hardly a home... But we had been saving up a lot of money for a house eventually. Well, I'm guessing that house would come by soon. As I walked past him, I felt the slender's aura reach my mind, radiating mostly with curiosity and concern. I shrugged his mind off and walked over to the bathroom. I needed to be sure.

I walked back to the living room and sat next to my husband, who was playing Okami. He gave an odd glance over to me, looking like he was struggling to keep his aura from digging through my mind and ripping away my secrets. "Sarah?...are you ok?" I looked into his eyes, but my gaze faltered. I instead looked out the window, fixated on the japanese cherry tree that adorned the neighbours from across the street's yard. I felt a hand cup my cheeks and my face was tilted back towards his. "Sarah...?"

I didn't know what to say. I guess it was at that moment that the weight of it all finally hit me. My heart started beating fast, my hands sweaty. He blinked and backed up an inch, unleashing his tendrills, which he curled around my wrists. He sent me as much of his comforting static as he could. I closed my eyes and bathed in the peaceful sensation. "Sarah..." His voice reached me again. I had to tell...I couldn't tell. No, I couldn't tell...but I could think. _"Tom, I'm pregnant." _The static halted, then the air grew so still, I couldn't help but open my eyes. His own eyes were wide, his mouth slightly opened. For an instant, I feared things would go wrong.

I was suddently lifted in the air by his tendrills and taken into his arms. He burried his face in my shoulder and I could hear his muffled laughter. The air around us now burned with a sense of euphoria and pride. He pulled me away from him, although still holding me in his tendrills, not even an inch off the ground. He still looked at me, a stupid smile on his face. We gazed at each other like this for an other few minutes before my feet slowly touched the ground once more. He kissed my lips softly before whispering. "So, I guess we have to start looking for that house now, eh?" It was my turn to laugh again. As we hugged once more, I glanced outside as I saw a gust of wind blow at the cherry tree, sending a flurry of pale petals across the air to scatter through the road. It was like a rain of confetti. Confetti made of cherry blossoms...

**AN: Hey! So I wanted to appologise for that incredibly short and kinda bad wedding chapter by adding in this one! I'm not good for weddings...I personally find them to be...uh...boring. Very boring... Yeah yeah, hate on me if you want, it's just my opinion. Anyway, I hope this chapter is ok. It also helps show how a weird name like Sakura came up...yeah...so ya. Good night, and thank you for reading! Of course, if you're reading this in the morning, then good morning...and if it's day, then GOOD DAY TO YOU, SIR!...OR MADAM!**


	6. Well, if You Put it That Way

**One-Shot #6 Well if You Put it That Way...**

I sat down comfortably on my couch, chewing placidly on some chips as I was getting myself some great new high scores at Mario Kart. It had been a few months since I had found out I was carrying Tom's child. The added weight was definitely something I wasn't used to. I had spent my whole life being a pretty thin and nimble person, climbing up trees and hiking effortlessly. For me to be, well...pretty much like a turtle was not something I enjoyed very much, but the thought that I had this life in me made it worth it.

I subconciously put a hand on my swollen stomach, smiling slightly. I flinched, dropping my chips on the ground, when a slight haze built it's self on the couch as the tall and faceless being teleported in, already sitting. I looked at him, a brow raised. "Wow, how long did it take you to learn to do that?" He rubbed the back of his neck, grinning in a way that showed his sharpened fangs. "Oh, not much... two to three...days." I brought a hand to my mouth, unable to keep back my laughter. "Two to three days of effort just so you could slenderwalk and be sitting right away? Why the living room? Why not the toilet? That would be more conveniant for emergencies." It was his turn to laugh. Years later and that sound was still the most beautiful sound in the world. It gave me goosebumps every time.

He turned his attention back to me, his faceless gaze turning to my stomach. He tilted his head ever so slightly, bringing up one of his shadowy tendrills and curling it around me. I shivered from it's contact. I could feel the tension of his aura. He moved the appendage around, now only resting the tip of it on my stomach. He got closer and wrapped his long arms around me. "She's doing very well today."

I had learnt that, with his aura's sensing abilities, he had been able to bassicaly monitor the baby far better than any doctors could. He had even been able to tell it was a girl almost right away. This was a practice he used when he worked with the animals at the clinic. He had only recently been employed and was already the best in the business. No surprise there, the guy wasn't even human.

He looked up to the screen, slowly shrinking down until he was human once more. He took his work shirt off and tossed it carelessly asside, though he still kept his blue and grey yarn scarf on. He placed his hand on the fine layer of facial hair that covered his chin. It amused me as I thought that his eyebrows were bushier than his beard was. I noticed him blush and the tendrill around my waist moved, tickling me slightly. "Hey! No fair! Stop reading my mind!" I managed to say between giggles. He chuckled as well. "Mind if I join the game?" He picked up an other controler, not even waiting for my answer. I suppose he knew my answer was clearly a big Yes.

We had been playing for a while now, destroying all the computer controled competition on every difficulty level of the game. As we went down Maple Treeway, one of my favorite tracks on the game, I let my mind wander lost among all the flowing leaves that fell about in the game. My wandering mind then began to come up with all kinds of thoughts. Every time I played on a track I knew like the back of my hand, this would happen. And of course, I had to comment on what I was thinking right now.

"Hey Tom. You know what? I bassically have a little fleshy pink lifeform growing within me, sucking the half digested food right out of my guts and absorbing my nutriants." I didn't even need to look to my side to notice his slowly turning head and pure confused expression. He simply raised his hands up in the air. "Well, if you put it that way...Oh my God you're right." We paused the game, taking a moment to look at each other to further process this great moment of epiphany. He then smiled and chuckled lowly, drawing me closer to him with his tendrill that was still around me.

With a hand on my stomach, he bent down and kissed me. He softly whispered against my lips. "I'm glad I ended up with you. I don't think anybody else on the whole face of this planet would have ever said anything like that." I giggled, looking back into his eyes. "Nobody would have taken it like you did. Most would have been freaked out." He snorted, turning his head upwards in a snoby gesture. "Ha. Silly weak humans."

I looked back down to the screen. "Yeah yeah, Slender. Can we resume our game? I was about to beat you for the fourth time in a row." He only chuckled and resumed. And I won again. The dangerous smirk he gave me, though, clearly meant one thing and one thing only. _"I'm about to use my epic slender powers to break this game so I can win at everything" _I merely smiled and shook my head. I suppose living with him as a husband was enough practice for a future child, that was most likely to inherit her father's powers.

My future child...who for now, was only a gut dwelling, digested food sucking, fleshy pink lifeform.

**AN: I haven't posted a oneshot in a while...I think I figured out how to make things work. I don't wanna overload this place and spam the archive with my fictions, since I'm kinda working on two things at once here. I'll put up one thing a day, no updates on weekends as usual. How it'll work for now will pretty much be: If I write a oneshot, no new chapter for Family not by Blood that day. Of course, vise-versa. I hope this oneshot was ok, although short. I've wanted to write this ever since I had this sudden realization of great truth about babies. God that one shocked me...but really...just think about it ;-; **


	7. Tendrills

**One-Shot #7 Tendrills**

Living with a slender held so many exciting things, especially if you have a scientific mind. One of the most facinating things about them to me were their tendrills. I was sitting down in our new garage. We finally got that house we wanted. It had cost a lot of money, so Tom decided to try to DIY as many things as he could. He was working on a bed frame now. I was sketching, occasionally looking up and over to him.

This let me see just how conveniant his tendrills proved to be. In slender form, it was as though he had ten arms rather than just two, eight of those extremly flexible and unbelievably strong. Like this, he could do ,alone, the work that would require many men to get done, and probably do it in half the time too. He was so calculating. Every gesture he did was done with an inhuman precision. Never, not even once, did he complain of a mistake. I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't make any, or simply because he was very patient. His aura let nothing to show on his current mood, he was too focused.

I don't think it's that much of an expected sight to have pretty much the Slenderman in your garage, building furniture, but to me, this was my every day life. And I loved it that way. He let his tools fall, taking a break. Fadding from sight, he quickly reapeared in the room with a can of soda. I raised a brow and looked on in surprise when he set all eight of his tendrills against the ground and raised his feet in the air. He was sitting off the ground, supported entirely by his tendrills in a spider like way. "Do they ever get tired?" He turned towards me, smirking in a way that showed his fangs. "Yeah, but it takes a lot of time." I nodded.

I continued to scribble on my drawing. A little blue here, a little green there. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt his presence behind me. I didn't even know he had moved. He didn't even make a sound when he moved like this. Heat went to my cheeks when I heard the unique sound of his breathing. It was the single most soothing sound in the world to me. I looked over my shoulder to see him, gazing at his shadowy tendrills that wavered in the air in rythm to the countless songs that filled his mind. "What's it like to have tendrills?"

I'm not too sure what happened next. He tilted his head to the side, his tendrills suddently still. He then spun me around and rested his forehead against mine. My breath caught in my throat. I felt his tendrills move behind me and press against my back. I gasped slightly when I felt an odd numbness spread from my back, and then a buzz of static traveling from the place where our foreheads met all the way down my spine.

And then I could feel, as though they were my own. I was stunned. I could feel every little gust of air against them, despite us being in doors. I could feel slight electrical currents in the air. I willed one to move, and it did. It wasn't much, but their simple presence, there, showed me how much raw power they held. They felt like they did, that's for sure... The tendrills then disconnected from my back and he leaned backwards, clutching his head and frowning.

I was still stunned by what just happened. "Are...are you ok?" He nodded, wincing as he did so. "Yeah, just tired." I subconciously touched my back. "How...How did you do that?" He turned his attention back to me, his head tilted to the side again. "I...don't know. I acted on instinct." He retracted his tendrills into his back. I smiled. He sounded so tired. Part of me just wanted to hug him and give him a cookie. I guess that was my maternal instinct rising.

After his breathing had returned to normal, he looked back to the project he had started. "I...don't think I can finish that tonight. That drained me. You wanted to know if my tendrills could get tired, well...they are." I shakily stood up, his hand reaching out to help me even if he was exhausted. I stood up as tall as I could and invited him for a kiss. Suddently, I felt the static of his mind strenghten. His energy returned to him. We broke apart for air and I gazed intently where his eyes should be. Even if he was eyeless at the moment, his stare was no less caring. "You should act on instinct more often." He only chuckled, bending down to kiss the side of my neck. I felt a shiver go down my spine.

A single one of his tendrills extended and wrapped around my swollen abdomen, gently massaging it. I rested my head against his scarf, and nothing else seemed to matter in this world. "Hey Tom?" "Hmm?" "Thanks for showing me that. You have no idea what that does to the scientist in me." He chuckled again. "I hope it helped the artist in you too." He motioned towards my drawing. I blushed. I had been drawing him.


	8. Bloom

**One-Shot #8 Bloom**

If my parents finding out I was dating a slender was hard enough, it was unbelievably difficult to get the courage to anounce to them that I was also marrying him...but none of that was anything when compared to the mountain I had to climb, or so it felt, when I told them I was carrying his child.

It should go without saying that we had been together for ten years, so clearly we did more than just a peck on the lips from time to time, but I guess they must have felt some insane sense of disbelief... just as I was feeling now, in the hospital, waiting to bring my first child to the world.

I was never affraid of hospitals, mainly because...well...I never went to them. I was never ill, I never broke a bone, heck, I never even got any cavities! I wasn't affraid of death either...my own death that is. I never had been. No matter how long you live or what you accomplish, it's the same end result: we all die. I always saw death as being something not to care about. Why would you care? When you're dead, you're...well...dead. You don't exactly care about anything anymore.

However, now, it wasn't just my life on the line in this crucial moment. The world around me was blurred, nothing but random distant flashes of white, grey, blue and green. There were only two sensations I was actually aware of: The constant rush of static that coursed through my body and the unbelievable pain that radiated through all of me, coming from my abdomen...coming from her, the life I was responsible for. I did not fear my own death, but I feared hers, even if her life hadn't even really started yet... And I didn't even want to think about what Tom would do if I didn't make it either...

Through the haze, my eyes focused on a certain source of tans and browns. I did my best until his eyes appeared to me, although still so blurry. Reaching out a single shaky hand, which he took, I spoke to him through my mind, seeing as I could barelly register anything going on around me. _"Wake me up when this is over..."_ I felt him flinch and saw him nod, and then the static in my mind turned into a high frequency buzz, dulling out all thoughts until I was consumed by darkness.

There were three things that woke me up. The first was the beeping and buzzing of various machines, the second was a rush of pain even greater than any I had felt before, the third, a small high-pitch cry. My eyes opened wide, awareness returning to me in an instant. I was suddently hit by waves of pain and winced, looking to my side when I felt a hand squeezing mine. Tom was giving me an apologetic look. I gave him a thankful smile, thankful for pretty much disconnecting me from all concious thoughts to save me from the pain.

"Miss?" I turned to see a short and kind looking nurse, holding a small pink bundle in her arms. I hadn't noticed the tears that started to stream down my eyes as they handed her to me. There she was, Sakura Moonlight Oakson. Suddently, all machines in the room began to buzz, screens turned to static and lights flickering ever so slightly as a powerful aura burned through the air. Without taking my eyes off the new life, I clung harder to the hand that was intertwined with mine in a mute way to say "Whatever you do, don't sprout your tendrills in your happiness."

The confusion and cries from the doctors was like something from an other world, away from us, not concerning us. The infant had relatively dark skin and showed locks of dark brown, nearly black hair on top of her head. There was a moment where it seemed no one was breathing and the whole world went still, no sound but white noise and no sensations but static, until she opened her eyes. Those shinning hazel-grey eyes... I couldn't stop myself from just hugging her close to my neck, hearing a shrill whine of protest as part of the pink blanket holding her fell back. That's when I heard the gasp and the already almost unbearable sense of pride that radiated in the room intensified.

I looked up to my husband, who's eyes were filled with amazment and pure joy, along with a few fresh tears. "She's a slender..." It was barely a whisper, carried out with a sense of pure awe. I looked down the the little child's back, seeing four darkened spots. My smile widened, to the point of hurting my cheeks. I didn't think of my parents at the time. We were the parents now...

Several sleep deprived weeks later, and my parents decided to come over for a visit. The sense of annimosity was still very much there. My parents still smiled, crying even when they saw the face of their grandaughter for the first time. Tom, him, was standing quietly behind me with a look of weariness on his face. The static tension in the air coming off of him certainly wasn't helping with this situation.

My dad shook a little stuffed dinosaur in front of the infant's face. "Kura, hey! You like dinosaurs too? You look just like your mommy!" Sakura looked up to her grandfather with wide eyes, a bright toothless smile on her face. She giggled slightly, waving her arms about and reaching for the toy from within her little seat.

My mom kept looking back and forth between the child and her parents. She'd smile when she looked at me, but she would only give a suspicion filled glare to my partner. Looking up to him, she spoke, but to me. "Sarah, is Sakura...you know... like him?" I flinched. I knew I'd have to tell her about this. "I...well...she...she d-doesn't have tendrills...at the moment. She's t-to-too young! But...well...y-yes. She will be." I looked down, stuttering. I prayed so that my mom wouldn't start an argument in front of Sakura. She's just a baby!

My mother's loving looks turned to a dissapointed sneer when she turned back towards Sakura. My dad looked back confused. I felt horribly insulted by this, but through my mind, through the air, I could feel someone else was even more so. Kura began to emit slow little sounds, as if she was calling out to everyone to calm down, picking up on her father's aura, but as a tendrill coiled around my arm, the hand I was holding now white, I knew this could end badly.

My parents, both pale, stood up and backed away a bit at the sight of the 9 foot tall man that stood behind me, eight black tendrills wavering about. He was showing his fangs. I had never seen him this angry. "Yes, I'm a slender! And she is too! What's the difference?! She didn't ask for it! I didn't ask for it. It's how we were born. This is your grandaughter! It shouldn't matter to you." He pointed one of his long white fingers to the small figure who looked back in facination. She showed no fear, seeing as this was not the first time she saw her father under his true form. I'd have been scared though... An angered slender is not something you want to pick a fight with, but I'm guessing she sensed he was defending her.

"_Tom...please... If you're trying to make them NOT see you as a monster, this isn't the way to go about with it." _I reached my hand back, holding onto his again. He looked down to me, his tendrills slacking. His mouth shut and he sighed. He then let his tendrills and shoulders droop. looking away and sitting down on the couch. "I'm sorry... You don't have to forgive or accept me, but please, don't hate her. She's not even a year old..."

My parents got closer again, still suspicious seeing as my husband had not reverted to a human appearence. I plucked Sakura from her carrier, holding her in my arms as I went to sit back on the couch, my head rested on the slender's shoulder. I looked up to where his eyes would be with the biggest puppy-dog eyes I could do. He slowly smiled, curling two of his tendrills around me and one around her. "I'm sorry." We both looked up in shock. My mom was looking to the ground. "I'm sorry...I'm just not used to this kind of situation." Me and Tom nodded in unity, both silently praying for her to come closer... and she did.

She reached her hand out to Sakura, standing not two feet away from the myth and her fingers nearly brushing up against the lone tendrill that was wrapped around the child. Sakura turned her hazel-grey eyes to my mom, and then reached her own little hand to grab a finger. Slowly, ever so slowly, my mom's frown turned to a smile, just like the one she had earlier.

"Just a baby?..no...not just a baby, to both of you. YOUR baby...a precious life." My mom didn't look back at Tom, but this was a start. My parents left not long after, Sakura falling asleep relatively at the same time. I gazed up to where Tom's eyes should be, silently begging for a kiss, which he gave me. "We're...parents..." As silly as it sounds, I had never thought of that. I had never thought that I had really carried this child and brought her to the world. It all felt surreal, like a dream, like something from out of a book or movie...something not really concerning me.

I was lifted from the ground by a set of tendrills as Tom looked at me in the eyes. "Why are you crying?" I blinked. I am? Oh..I am...I sniffled, wiping the stray tears. "We're parents..." He chuckled, lifting my chin up. "You don't say?" I laughed as well, pulling him in for a second kiss.

My precious little Sakura had finally bloomed.


End file.
